Moonlight Hearts and Double Heroes
by CrazyNutSquirrel
Summary: Sequel to Iron hands and fragile roses. Life seems great, but then Shadow discovers that he has also been a "victim" of Dark Gaia's energy. No, he didn't transform. But something else happened, something equally interesting. Rated T for safety.
1. Enter the vampires

He looked out over the battlefield, his way-too-large helmet slipping over his eyes once again. "Careful, he's somewhere nearby, I know it!" The three hedgehog siblings heard a low growl and spun around. The girl screamed and hid behind the brother who wasn't wearing a helmet. The other one immediately whipped out his gun and shot at the creature.

As the water hit Iltinis, he pretended to reel around before finally falling over, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth for added affect. "We got him!" Cheered Aaron, scrambling towards the downed hedgewolf. Iris looked worried.

"Daddy..... dead?" She asked. This question was answered when they were close enough, Iltinis suddenly sprang up and grabbed them all, squeezing gently. They didn't notice this, seeing as they were all too busy screaming with panic. "I can't breathe!" cried Iris. Iltinis immediately put them down and crouched to look at Iris properly, concern on his face.

"I'm sorry, are you okay Iris?"

"Get him!" yelled Noah, rushing towards Iltinis and grabbing hold of one of his legs tightly. Aaron approved of this plan and jumped onto Iltinis's back, while Iltinis laughed and tried to carefully shake Aaron off, Iris even got enough courage to venture a punch. Iltinis pretended to gasp, and he fell backwards. Luckily, Aaron was so small that Iltinis didn't crush him.

Of course, they'd discovered that their kids had a good amount of endurance. This had been discovered when Eggman had tried to kidnap the kids to throw them a surprise birthday party (of course, no one else knew about this). Iltinis had transformed immediately and raced off, he'd grabbed the kids and held them close to himself, with much more pressure than when they played "alligator".

The kids had squirmed and screamed, thinking it was a game, and when Tails checked them later (with Iltinis and Amy anxiously standing nearby), he found that they wouldn't even get bruises. The door shut as Noah jumped onto Iltinis's stomach. The air left the hedgewolf in a whoosh. "You hurt Daddy!" cried Iris almost hysterically.

"Oh come on! You punched him!"

"Only a little one," she retorted, sticking her tongue out at Aaron.

"I'm home!" Called Amy.

"Mommy!" Iltinis ambled into the kitchen (with a very fake limp) with the kids riding on his back. He flopped onto the floor as they leapt off and ran over to Amy to throw their arms around her waist. Amy patted their heads.

"How did your war go? Did you save the damsel in distress and beat her terrible guardian?"

"Yeah, Iris is a good general," Noah then wrinkled his nose. "I don't want to do the damsel part next time though."

"It was all icky and girly!" Added Aaron. Iris stuck out her tongue again.

"If you don't do the damsel, I won't be a general."

"But you're the only one who's good at being a general!" Iris ignored this and turned back to Amy.

"I punched Daddy, will you see if he's okay?" she asked. Amy smiled and nodded. So while Iltinis sat at the table, a hedgehog again, Amy checked him for "wounds", while the children looked on anxiously. Even though they loved playing "war" with their dad (even though it involved a horrifying amount of damsel saving), they didn't want him to get hurt. After all... when they accidentally broke one of Uncle Shadow's vases (by knocking it onto his head), they'd been in a huge amount of trouble.

Amy finally got some ointment and rubbed it into where Iris had punched him. "You're going to have a bruise there," she said solemnly.

"Oh no!" Iris burst out crying. Iltinis grinned and put her on his lap.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have expected anything less from you, you're a strong little girl!"

"Yeah, and a good general," said Aaron, not wanting them to forget that part.

Shadow groaned, his chest was hurting, as if something was trying to pull him in opposite directions. It had started last month, and happened at the most unexpected times. And other times, he would lose control of his body momentarily, which had resulted in some very narrow escapes from near fatal (for a mortal) accidents. This had made him decide not to run until this stopped.

But when he almost fell from the top of the stairs and broke his neck, he made an equally important decision to go to Tails's house and find out what the heck was wrong. No matter how much laughter would be delivered thanks to Sonic, he had to do this... after all, even though he was immortal, injuries like that hurt like hell and kept him out of battle for a good long while. Plus, his pride had been injured enough recently.

Shadow exited his house, one of his legs jerking sideways and causing him to crash to the ground. Once again, he was glad that his house was in an isolated area. As he got up, another scratch added to that thing called his pride, he decided a motorcycle would be too risky, the same (sadly) for Chaos Control. Yes the car was risky as well, but there was less chance of near fatal injuries if something happened.

He was in the city when the biggest pull yet occurred and he passed out, one of his arms moving just enough for the steering wheel to turn, making the car crash into a tree.

Rouge was on her way with the car to meet Knuckles (who had successfully retrieved groceries from the store without running into.... problems), when she saw a car crash ahead. No one else was around, which was strange..... when she got closer, she realized that the car was Shadow's, and that he was slumped in the front seat with two people beside him, blinking in a dazed fashion.

She pulled out her cell phone immediately as she parked the car. Knuckles would have to drop the groceries off at Cream's house.

Iltinis had finished putting the living room furniture back, and was making spaghetti (one of the few dishes he'd managed to master when the kids weren't asking him to play with him, or when he didn't have somewhere to go) when the phone rang. "Would you get that please?" Amy called, she was giving the kids baths.

"'Kay," he called. He stretched his arm, lifted the receiver, and brought it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Iltinis?"

"Hi Rouge! How are you?"

"Never mind that, I need you here right now."

"What's wrong?"

"Shadow's been in a car crash."

"WHAT?! Where are you?" Iltinis was swiftly getting the spaghetti off the stove and preparing to rush out the door.

"Two blocks from your house, go right, hurry!" Iltinis hung up and dashed out of the kitchen.

"Amy, I'm going out!"

"Why?"

"Shadow's been in a car crash!"

"Oh my....!" He heard something fall to the floor, "Where should we meet you?"

"Tails's house."

"Alright, be careful!"

Iltinis discovered that the car doors were jammed, so he transformed and ripped the driver's side door off, then transformed back to hedgehog form and lifted Shadow. The other two who'd been in the vehicle stared blankly at him. "Is he going to be okay?" Asked the female one anxiously, still blinking as she tried to focus.

"I'm not sure, Rouge, I'm taking him to Tails's house." He turned and disappeared. Rouge looked at them.

"Who are you?"

"Introductions later," said the male, standing cautiously. When he almost fell down, Rouge sighed.

"Get in my car." Knuckles ran up not too long after that.

"What happened...?" He asked.

"I'll explain on the way." Knuckles climbed into the passenger seat, with a screeching of tires, Rouge's car did did a complete turn and they zoomed off.

'_Dark Gaia_?'

'_Iltinis! How nice to hear from you, life at the Chaotix's is interesting, but very boring when Charmy is left alone_.'

'_You haven't found a new mouthpiece yet_?'

'_Nope, I like using Charmy. Espio and Vector don't seem to mind when I stop him from talking..._'

'_Nice, Shadow was just in a car crash, would you let the Chaotix know_?'

'_Of course! Where are you now?_'

'_On my way to Tails's._"

Shadow felt groggy, and his arm was hurting a hell of a lot, but he felt in control of his body, unlike the last few months. He opened one of his eyes. "HE'S ALIVE!" A voice practically yelled in his ear. He winced.

"Hush Sentimento!"

"So that's her name? Sentimento?"

"Yeah. I'm Senzace. Nice to meet you." Then Charmy's voice came.

"Hey... she looks like an almost skeletal hedgehog."

"That's because I am an almost skeletal hedgehog," said the voice that had screamed in his ear, sounding confused.

"Sentimento, hush up."

"Sorry Senzace."

"Dark Gaia," said Shadow, sitting up with a groan.

"Yes?" Asked Dark Gaia cheerfully.

"This is your fault." Everyone looked at Charmy/Dark Gaia.

"What did you do?" Asked Iltinis, eyes narrowed.

"Nothing!" Said Dark Gaia, sounding confused.

"Oh yes you did. Remember when you tried to get into my head around five years ago?"

"Yeah...?"

"These two," he said, pointing to them. It was true, they did look almost skeletal. Their heights were normal though. Sentimento, the girl, was a hedgehog with long hair that went to her elbows, her visible eye (the other was hidden by hair) was icy blue. She had maroon fur, and hazelnut brown hair. She was wearing a black hoodie, dark blue jeans, and black sneakers with white skulls on them. She wore no gloves.

Senzace had hair that looked like he'd never brushed it. It had a windswept look, some of it practically looking cross-hatched. His hair was dark blue, his fur was pale green, and his eyes were orange. Some of his hair had been tamed enough to go into a braid, which went all the way down to his waist; it was hanging over his shoulder. His outfit consisted of plain black runners, a brown wrist cuff with a red star on it, and a brown vest. "What about them?" Asked Dark Gaia.

"They're the result of your energy!" Roared Shadow.

"Um..."

"Admit it already, you know it's true!"

"Alright alright, I confess. When I was trying to get you to allow me into your head, I was sneaking some of my energy into you. Happy?"

"No," snarled Shadow, about to leap towards Dark Gaia/Charmy.

"I wouldn't recommend that," said Iltinis, pushing him down. "Your arm is broken, yes it's healing fast, but damaging it more isn't advisable."

"You do like us right?" Sentimento asked anxiously.

"I have no idea," muttered Shadow.

"What are you anyway?" Asked Sonic curiously. "Iltinis is a hedgewolf."

"Oh we're vampires," said Sentimento cheerfully. The triplets shrieked and hid behind Iltinis. I didn't describe them earlier did I? Iris has light purple fur, golden eyes, and she usually wears shorts and a muscle shirt (I like her taste).

Noah and Aaron are both dark blue like Iltinis. Noah has Amy's emerald green eyes, and Aaron's eyes are chocolatey brown. Noah wears boots like Amy's, but his are grey with a golden stripe. Aaron's shoes are like Sonic and Iltinis's, except for the fact that instead of red, his are black. "We're not bad vampires!" Said Senzace.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, Senzace feeds on sensation. His name means sensation in Czech." Senzace sighed through his nose, then turned to Sentimento.

"Sentimento?"

"Yes Senzace?"

"You know how I told you when there were moments when you should let me explain things so that you don't possibly mess it up?"

"Yes."

"That was one of those moments."

"Sorry." He turned back to them.

"Yes, I'm a vampire that feeds on sensation, she feeds on emotions. But we don't need to bite a person or anything like that, just being around people is good. Of course, we can't feed off our own emotion, and if we're in a room and there's no exit, if it's completely sealed off from the world, then we'd be able to feed of our own emotions or sensations. It would kinda hurt though."

"My name means sensation in Italian!" Piped up Sentimento.

"Sentimento!"

"Sorry!"

"Anyway.... we're your siblings Iltinis." The hedgewolf stared at them. This was so impossible, and so.... weird. Even weirder than when Amy had to show him how to operate the shower (without breaking anything).

"And that makes your kids our nephews and niece!" Said Sentimento, delighted.

"Auntie Sentimento?" Said Noah incredulously.

"Yup!" Sentimento hugged them. "Oh what fun we'll have! We can go to shopping malls and have ice cream and....... Senzace?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think noodles taste like?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Dad says Iltinis is good at making them."

"'Dad'?" Echoed Iltinis, still in shock. Dark Gaia blushed with Charmy's face.

"Sorry, I like the idea of someone calling me dad!" Iltinis shook his head.

"Where are they staying?" Asked Tails.

"They could stay at the agency," said Vector. The look on Espio's face made Amy decide to invite them to stay with them.

"Oh could we?" Asked Sentimento, clapping her hands together.

"Of course," said Amy smiling uncertainly. She now had a very strange sister in law.

"Vegetables suck," said Sentimento, making a face.

"No they don't, they taste very good," said Senzace. The triplets giggled at these two adults acting like kids (technically they are kids, but whatever). They'd never thought they'd hear an adult agree with their view that vegetables were evil!

"That's it, you've been brainwashed."

"If I have, so have you. Why in the world won't you believe broccoli tastes nice?"

"Or asparagus," added Iltinis.

"I think that Sentimento just doesn't like green things."

"True, but I don't like other vegetables either. They're totally icky."

"Fine! Have it your way, but if you don't have vegetables you don't get cake."

"What's cake?" asked Sentimento and Senzace at the same time. There was silence for a moment, then the triplets started explaining, talking over each other and raising their voices to be heard, until eventually they were yelling.

"QUIET!" Yelled Iltinis. Silence descended like a hammer, you could have cut through it with a knife, honestly! "If you eat your vegetables, you'll find out," said Iltinis sweetly.

"Eeew! Daddy's acting like a girl!" Said Aaron. Amy laughed with Iltinis's new brother and sister.

_Elsewhere....._

"Finally! Finally I'll be able to capture Knuckles! All the time it took will be worth it," said Finitevus, chuckling evilly. His new golden tooth did not (contrary to his belief) make him look cool, or more evil. It made him look like a vain idiot. Honestly. It must have been made for someone with buck teeth! But this did not concern him. He was going to be able to catch Knuckles, and once he had Knuckles as.....

This thought was interrupted by a low chuckle, Finitevus turned to look at his visitor. "Ah, puppet master. How good of you to come."

**Woot! Sequel started. I hope the names I chose were good. ^_^ And I hope this chapter was good. O.o And I hope everyone was in character. Anyway, R&R, tell me what you think..... and who the hell is "puppet master"? I never heard about him in any of the Sonic comics, tv shows, or that movie that was made. And I'm relatively sure that there wasn't one in the games. *sits down to think about this***

**Finitevus: While she thinks about this, I shall give the disclaimer. But first, I would like to say that I do not like that she is making me look like an idiot. -.- An evil idiot sure, but still an idiot.**

**Disclaimer: Who cares? She doesn't whack YOU with a baseball bat all the time.**

**Finitevus: Yes, but you deserve it. CrazyNutSquirrel owns Disclaimer, Iltinis, Noah, Iris, Aaron, Sentimento, Senzace, this story idea, and this disclaimer.**

**And thank you DgShadowChocolate for the title for the story! :D**


	2. Sinister stuff below normality

When Amy and Iltinis woke up, they went to check on the twins, and discovered them both in Senzace's room, Sentimento's arms wrapped around him, tracks of salt going down his face, showing that he'd been crying the previous night. They exchanged a glance as they exited the room. "Sentimento heard him and I didn't?" Asked Iltinis, frowning.

"I guess so, either that, or she felt it."

"Oh yeah," Iltinis went to wake the kids while Amy went to make the breakfast.

Dark Gaia hummed to himself as he buzzed around the Chaotix Detective Agency. "Vector, breakfast is ready." He thought he heard a muffled 'oh _no_', but dismissed it as impossible. Next he flew to Espio's room, here's where he had a bit of fun. Sticking his head inside the room, he saw that his finely rigged trap was still in place. He sucked in a deep breath, "ESPIO!" The chameleon shot up into a sitting position, which allowed the cream pie that Dark Gaia's machine had launched to hit Espio squarely in the face. The bee/god fled, laughing hysterically.

As soon as the fight was resolved, they sat down to breakfast. Blackened bacon and eggs with buttered toast, which Dark Gaia tucked into with a will. Vector and Espio exchanged a glance, then forced themselves to eat the black messes on their plates.

At the "Rose" residence, breakfast was a lot better. There were two options, French toast and cereal (if you hadn't had enough), or make your own breakfast. Everyone chose French toast and cereal. Senzace did not like milk with his cereal, saying it made it horribly soggy. This confused Aaron, who liked his cereal to be soggy. That was when Sentimento said something that made the rest of them stare. "Do even you know what cereal is made of? All those curly shavings you find in pencil sharpeners."

"Wha......?" Senzace asked, not getting it.

"I have no idea why I said that," said Sentimento, looking puzzled.

"You quoted Willy Wonka!" Said Noah, "And the voice was perfect!" He looked awed by this. "Can you do any others?"

"I'm not sure, my dear child. Say, sistah, where we going today?" Asked Sentimento. Amy, or as Sentimento had called her, 'sistah', smiled at the vampire's enthusiasm.

"Well we could go to the beach."

"What's that?" Asked Sentimento.

"It's the shoreline."

"And that would be....?" Sentimento asked, looking at Senzace.

"It would be sand, you know, where the ocean meets the land? That thing Dad taught us?"

"He taught us that? I don't remember."

"That's because you didn't pay attention."

"Oh yeah. Dad tends to drone a bit when he teaches you something doesn't he?"

"Well.... a bit."

Shadow really hated the fact that even though the vampires were out, his body was still getting used to the fact, meaning that it was still pretty jerky at times. "I've got some exercises you can do Shadow," said Tails nervously, not wanting to be in the room if Shadow blew up. He handed the black hedgehog the folder and scurried out, closing the door behind him. Shadow flipped through them and sighed, then started the first one.

After breakfast, the kids disappeared, making Iltinis sigh in frustration. They were supposed to be going to school, and they knew it. So started the scavenger hunt (of sorts). "I wonder where Iris could be....?" He asked out loud, knowing that she always revealed herself when this question was posed. By force of habit, she came out from behind the couch.

She whispered to him that Aaron and Noah were under the couch, which made it one of the faster scavenger hunts. He presented them to Amy, who quickly cleaned them up, and then he went outside and plunked them in the car. Senzace ran out and slid into the car as well, wanting to see more of the sights. Sentimento decided to stay, though she was a little uneasy about it.

Amy suspected it had something to do with Senzace's crying the previous night, but didn't mention it. The car shot down the road, Shadow's one day of driving lessons for Iltinis had influenced him more than he realized. Amy and Sentimento smiled and waved, just smiled and waved.

Senzace's grip on his seat was a white-knuckled one. "Where did you learn to drive?"

"With Tails, and for one day, Shadow."

"That explains it," said Senzace, lightly clamping his teeth on his tongue so he wouldn't end up swallowing it. The kids were laughing and saying things about "wheelies" in the back seat. Senzace was too busy praying he'd survive the ride to actually pay attention. They finally arrived at the school and Iltinis waved at them.

"Have fun!"

"We will Dad!" They ran towards the school, Noah carrying Iris's art project for her while Aaron was pulling ahead, already at the stairs. Iltinis smiled and stretched his arm into the back, they'd forgotten to close the door.

"Did you want to go anywhere in particular Senzace? I promise I'll go slower, that was just so they'd get there on time." Senzace thought for a minute.

"I'm not exactly sure," he admitted. Iltinis thought for a minute, drumming out a tune on the steering wheel, then he brightened.

"Why don't we go get you an iPod? Amy insisted on me getting one, and I like it a lot."

"What's an iPod?" Iltinis chuckled as he merged with the traffic again, the black ferrari (which had been a present from Shadow) seeming to growl as it waited for the light to change to green.

"You'll find out."

"Alright brother," Iltinis looked at Senzace, who was now looking out the window. Brother, it still seemed kinda hard to accept.

Finitevus crowed triumphantly while Knuckles just glared at him. "Where are we Finitevus, and what are you doing?"

"We are in another dimension, one that must also pay for it's crimes with emerald fire. One individual in particular, it's his fault I failed last time."

"Who is he? I want to give him flowers," said Knuckles, smirking when Finitevus looked irritated.

"Iltinis Jarnhand, hedgewolf, and a pain in the butt. If the pictures I had of him I would show you what he looks like."

"I have one," said the Puppet Master as he enterred the room. He was tall, and unidentifiable, thanks to his hooded cloak that obscured any features. He wore gloves, so you couldn't see if he had fur or not. He held a picture in front of the cage. "This is Iltinis," then he turned to Finitevus. "It seems he has started a family, and two new editions have been made to it." He held up pictures of the vampire twins. "These two came from Shadow, we're not sure how. They seem to be vampires, my puppet among their friends was very informative, seeing as they were there when they explained who and what they were."

"You must tell me everything," said Finitevus urgently, heading towards another room. Even though you couldn't see his face, you could tell the Puppet Master was smiling.

"No I don't, but we are partners, so I will." He walked across the room in a few strides and was through the door before Finitevus, causing the white echidna to frown. The Puppet Master seemed to be more in control than he was, as Knuckles called to him from his cage.

Senzace was oblivious to any sounds except those coming from his headphones, which Iltinis found amusing. His vampiric brother was listening to "Right By Your Side" by Eurythmics, and was watching people, interest plainly showing on his face. Suddenly he frowned. "Iltinis, someone's nervous in that bank."

"What do you mean?" Iltinis pulled over, and, ignoring Iltinis's questions, went inside to see a man pulling a gun from inside his jacket. He barely processed this before he pounced, falling to the floor with the man and pulling the gun from his hand. The security guards, who'd looked shocked at the gun, now looked relieved.

Iltinis came in and pulled the man up, holding the guy so he could get handcuffs put on him. "Well Senzace, I didn't know that you could read sensations well enough to tell when a man was going to pull out a gun for a bank robbery."

"I could feel his nervousness, I'm not sure why. But when I felt him put his hand on a trigger, I just..... knew." Iltinis steered his brother out before the security personnel could start questioning him and they got in the car and headed away.

"How did you know he had his hand on a gun?"

"I saw it in my head." Iltinis nodded, and seemed to accept this, then a grin spread across his head.

"Well hero, how about we go get some pizza?"

"What's that?"

"Something you'll like, trust me."

**I didn't originally plan the robbery prevention, but it just seemed to fit when it popped into my head. I DID do little asterisks to divide the sections, but if they don't show up.... then I have no idea why it's like that. I can only assume it's some sort of problem with my files or my account or something. Hope you liked this chapter, and anyone have any ideas for powers for the kids to have? I know Iris has to have something along the lines of moving things with her mind, formulating weapons of energy.... that sort of thing. R&R please!**

**Disclaimer: All characters are owned by SEGA except Iltinis, Iris, Noah, Aaron, Sentimento, Senzace, and possibly the Puppet Master. Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart are Eurythmics, so there's another mystery solved for me, and lessee.... oh yeah, CrazyNutSquirrel owns the story idea, while DgShadowChocolate must be given credit for the title of this sequel.**

**Thanks Dg! And thanks SEGA for making the Sonic characters, though I wish I owned them......... :3**

**Finitevus: I'm glad you don't.**

**Sure you are.**


	3. Weeds in the garden

Sentimento was watching what Amy was doing with her face, but her mind was somewhere else entirely. Senzace had had a nightmare, it had involved some white echidna standing on top of a pile of dead bodies, and green flames covered the ground. Itlinis, Senzace, and herself had been chained together, the end of the chain being held by a red echidna in some strange outfit, who'd had a chain around his own neck, the end of that one being held by the white echidna.

But there were strings attached to the echidna, strings that went up to giant, gloved hands, hands which had more strings stretching down to someone else... before Senzace had seen the identities of either of the two, the dream had ended as Sentimento rushed into his room and wrapped her arms around him. The question on her mind was not 'what did the dream mean?' It was 'where is Senzace right now? And is he okay?' The doorbell rang, and she shot downstairs to answer it. Amy frowned.

"Oh great, now she's got a line of mascara going down her cheek!" Iltinis and Senzace came in.

"What happened to you?" Asked Senzace, staring, wide-eyed, at the black line.

"What?" Iltinis sniffed curiously.

"You've got mascara on. Did you allow Amy to start giving you a makeover?"

"I... actually, I'm not sure. I wasn't paying attention." Iltinis smiled and carried the pizza boxes into the kitchen, set them on the counter, then tossed a wet hand cloth to Sentimento. "Wipe that mess off your face, you look better without it. Don't tell Amy I said that though."

"I promise not to," Sentimento wiped it off.

"That took me twenty minutes to apply!" Said Amy as she came down the stairs, smiling slightly. "Didn't like it?"

"It felt weird," said Senzace, noticing the smile of thanks that Iltinis gave her.

"Alright. Well we'll just stick to perfume next time."

Noah neatly ducked as a spitball flew over his head. Iris looked horrified. "That is so disgusting! How could anyone use one of those...?"

"Oh calm down already Iris," said Aaron, shooting a spitball at the offender.

"Think that's funny punk?" Asked the older boy, coming over towards them. Aaron smiled.

"Well _yeah_, duh. I find satisfaction in getting people back for trying to hit my brother with spitballs."

"Aaron!" Said Noah.

"No, let the little punk stand up for himself." Iris took a subtle step forward, her eyes narrowed dangerously. Noah raised an eyebrow, in what looked like a challenge, but was actually surprise for the expression on Iris's face. She'd never had that sort of face on before.

"So then, I'm standing up. You can sit down now." Aaron grinned. The bully smacked him. Noah leapt forward, anger plastered all over his face. The older boy caught him and tossed him away. Before Noah's back connected with the tree, he jerked to a halt. Iris's eyes glowed, changing from their original colour to a violent shade of red. Noah was deposited on the ground as the bully was lifted into the air.

"You're a brave boy aren't you?" She hissed. "Hitting children who are smaller than you. Let's see how you like getting smacked," before she could wave her hand and send him crashing into a tree, vines wrapped around her arm, immobilizing it. Aaron stared at the vines curling up his own arms in surprise.

"Err... sis?"

"What?" She snapped.

"I think you might want to put him down."

"We've gotta talk to Dad about this," said Noah, coming over.

"We? Only Iris and I have powers," said Aaron. Noah's face seemed to close.

"That isn't the point. Iris, put him down now." She did so reluctantly. "Now, you, Damiel, are going to leave everyone alone. Agreed?" The bully nodded. "Good, now go."

As the dalmatian scurried off, Iris and Aaron went to the swings, while Noah sat on the merry-go-round and watched them, a strange look on his face, and a glint of unshed tears in his eyes.

When Iltinis and Senzace came to pick them up, they could tell something was off. Iris and Aaron were chattering animatedly to each other, and Noah was trailing behind them, hardly noticing when a kid accidentally knocked into him, apologized, and ran on. Iltinis climbed out of the car and shut the door. "Iris, Aaron, behave yourselves for Senzace please." He put a hand on Noah's shoulder and steered him over to the other end of the parking lot. He halted under the trees. "What's wrong Noah?" Noah finally started crying.

Iltinis hugged him as he related the events that had happened during recess. "Just because nothing showed doesn't mean you don't have powers Noah. Your mother didn't know she could bring infinite hammers out of a pocket space until she was ten." Noah looked up at Iltinis.

"Dad, Iris and Noah don't see me as equal to them anymore." He repeated what Aaron had said. Iltinis's expression hardened.

"You leave your brother and sister to me. Now smile, or you're grounded." Noah laughed. "Better, come on, there's pizza when we get home."

Iris and Aaron, who'd been waiting to tell Iltinis what had happened, stopped smiling when they saw the expression on his face. "You know what I am going to say," he growled as they pulled out of the parking lot. Senzace looked confused. Iris and Aaron remained quiet, and Noah stared out the window. "How could you say that to your brother Aaron? And Iris, why didn't you defend him? He defends you all the time."

"Dad, he doesn't have powers! He had nothing to tell you ab..." Iltinis exploded.

"Just because he hasn't displayed any doesn't mean he doesn't have any! And even if he has none, you two do not have the right to talk down to him like you did!" Iris started crying and Aaron glared. Noah turned and started comforting Iris automatically.

"Don't cry Iris, it's okay, Dad knows you didn't mean it..."

"But we did!" Wailed Iris. "I'm sorry Noah!"

"It's okay." Iltinis looked in the rearview mirror at Aaron, who was still glaring.

"Aaron?" His other son just turned his head away, jaw tightening. "Alright then. It's straight to bed when we get home."

"Fine."

Senzace was agitated now, he could feel resentment billowing off of Aaron, that, and other feelings that suggested dark thoughts. He could feel Aaron fingering a pocket knife he'd found, which was not a good thing. When they got out of the car, Senzace pretended to be making sure Aaron got out of the car, but he was really taking the pocket knife from his nephew. "Violence never ends well," he whispered.

"You're not from our family, you can't tell me what to do," sneered Aaron, pushing past him. Senzace froze, blinked, and tried to get the hurt hidden away. He did not want Sentimento to know what Aaron had said, she would react with much more emotion, and they wouldn't be able to hide it from Iltinis and Amy.

He felt that the children had been given enough trouble already.

Finitevus frowned. "These two vampires could be trouble."

"Indeed. However, I have taken the liberty of preparing containment cells for them. The only way they'd be able to keep from starving would be to cause harm to themselves. Much more amusing than simply torturing them." The puppet master paused. "The boy Aaron might be a good servant, if you could get a hold of him. He is currently feeling resentment towards his family. It would be easy enough to get him to turn on them."

"How do you suggest we do this?" Asked Finitevus, not even consciously realizing he was giving control of the operation over to the puppet master by asking this question.

"I suggest that I take control of the dalmatian they had a run in with this morning. It should be easy enough to get Aaron to trust him, then get him alone to talk to him about important matters. That is where I'd go and talk to him. You know how persuasive I can be." Finitevus shuddered. He knew all too well how persuasive his partner was when he wanted to be.

**Yes, it's a short update, but hey! Fillers are fillers. This was to get the creative juices flowing again, they encountered a blockage on the stream of imagination.**

**Disclaimer: *rolls eyes* Oh stop trying to be fancy.**

***rolls up sleeves* Care to say that again?**

**Disclaimer: CrazyNutSquirreldoesn'townanythingbutIltinis'sfamilypleasedon'thurtme!**

**Good.**

**Finitevus: -.- You missed that CrazyNutSquirrel doesn't own Finitevus or Amy. She owns the dalmatian, the kids, the puppet master, and the vampires.**

**Thank you Finitevus. R&R please!**


	4. Power up

**Seeing as I've been having trouble with spacing... let's see if an N in bold will show up to divide the different things, N being for Next. ;)**

Iris knocked on Aaron's bedroom door. "Aaron?" She heard a faint muttering. "Pardon?"

"I didn't say anything to you." She frowned, puzzled.

"But I heard something."

"I didn't say anything okay?"

"Sorry..." She went to her own room and sat on the bed, leaning against the wall and closed her eyes. Suddenly she heard Aaron's voice as clearly as if he was beside her talking into her ear.

"_Why is Iris bothering me? She was such a good little girl and apologized. She knows we're both special, she probably didn't mean it_." Iris shot up. She ran to Aaron's door.

"Aaron you open this door!"

"Why?"

"I heard what you said about me not meaning it when I said sorry to Noah!"

"What's wrong Iris?" Sentimento stood on the stairs. Iris suddenly heard Sentimento's voice, but her aunt's lips weren't moving. "_I wonder what she's upset about_?" Iris was baffled. She had heard Aaron saying something, but he said he hadn't said anything. And just now she'd heard Sentimento say something, but she wasn't moving her mouth. And why had her voice echoed slightly?

"Aunty?"

"Yes Iris?"

"Why did your voice echo?"

"My voice didn't echo? Did it?" Asked Sentimento, turning to Senzace, who was coming up the stairs.

"No. _What is Sentimento talking about? She sounds normal_."

"There it is again!" They turned to Iris. "Your voice echoed this time Uncle."

"No it didn't."

"When you said that Sentimento sounded normal, your voice echoed!" Senzace's jaw dropped.

"I didn't say that out loud..." Sentimento suddenly grinned and took Iris's hand.

"Come with me my darling, I think I might know what you're hearing."

**N**

Noah had heard this from his bedroom, where he was quietly working on his homework. He stared at all the smiley faces on his workbook and closed his eyes. Something had been been wrong with Senzace before he came inside the house, and something was definitely wrong with Aaron, he didn't know how he knew, he just... did. He opened his eyes and finished answering the last few questions before closing the book. He sat on his bed, looking at his hands.

Aaron and Iris's powers had appeared unexpectedly. Why not his? Was something wrong with him? He wished he could disappear, that would make things a whole lot easier. Would they forget him if he actually disappeared? Reaching for his glass, he frowned. Something was different. He brought the glass to his mouth and found it empty. It had been full just a few seconds ago. He dropped the glass and it shattered, some of the shards digging into his leg. He didn't notice, he was too busy staring at the thin glove of water that hovered just above his hand.

**N**

Aaron heard the crash and his ears twitched. It was from Noah's room. He was at his bedroom door before he started actually thinking. If Noah had got hurt, so what? He wasn't anyone special. Aaron smirked. Now he, on the other hand, was special. He had powers. He'd found out that he could deal with metal as easily as he could with putty in the car, he'd bent his pocket knife out of shape, then back into shape as easily as he'd bend a blade of grass.

He went back to his bed and stretched out onto it, closing his eyes to go to sleep, ignoring the sounds of Iltinis and Amy rushing to Noah's room. Oh yes, their oh-so-precious son. Just because he'd said something that had hurt Noah, he mattered less now. Well he'd show them, they hadn't reacted enough when he'd shown his powers. They should have found out if he had more, they should have congratulated him, maybe then he'd have been able to apologize to Noah and entertain the idea that his brother might have powers as well. Now, he doubted it.

Something was wrong with him, he knew this. He just didn't know what. But despite this, he embraced this negative thing, finding it was far easier to continue to blame and condemn and treat his family as enemies than to forgive them and apologize. However...

**N**

Iris and Sentimento high fived at the same moment the glass shattered. Iris's head snapped towards the door, she'd heard the 'thoughts' in Noah's head that told her what happened. Sentimento had felt his pain. They reached his room first and found blood trickling down his leg, and him still staring at his hand. Iris went over to him. "What happened Noah?" He looked up.

"What?" He asked in a dazed voice. Amy and Iltinis came in next. Iltinis smelled the blood before he saw it. He crouched by Noah and gently began extracting the pieces of glass.

"Why did the glass break?" The water around Noah's hand had disappeared, now he reached into the air, as if searching for something. Water appeared slowly around his hand, swirling serenely. Amy gasped.

"I do have powers," he said, still sounding dazed, but happy now.

"Good for you Noah, but we still have to get all the glass out of your leg. Why did it fall and break?"

"I was wishing I could disappear, my glass had had water in it, but when I reached for it there wasn't any, and there was water around my hand, just floating there." Iltinis smiled.

"I see." Senzace started sweeping up the shards of glass from the floor.

"Well, Iris has telepathy and telekinesis, and Noah seems to have control over water! Very cool."

"Hm." They looked up, Aaron was leaning in the doorway. He had a ball of metal over his hand, constantly changing into different shapes. "Are you alright brother?" He asked, sounding concerned, but his face didn't look it, his expression made him look as if he was examining his brother to see how much of a danger he was.

"Yeah, thanks Aaron."

"Sorry about earlier." Said Aaron, jaw tightening. Noah nodded. "I'll see you all tomorrow."

"I'm glad that that problem is fixed up," said Amy, smiling, seemingly not having noticed the look on Aaron's face. Itlinis gave her a half hearted smile. He could tell it wasn't. Senzace and Sentimento could tell the same thing. Senzace felt Aaron crushing a metal figure of Noah in his hand.

**N**

Shadow, with his typical speed, was back to normal. Or as normal as was possible for him. Tails gladly told him he could go home, happy to have the moody hedgehog out of his workshop. Shadow skated for awhile, then slowed to a walk. He heard a small noise and spun. He didn't have time to say the name of the person before he was knocked unconscious.

**N**

The Puppet Master smiled as he got confirmation of Shadow's capture. "Good. Shadow shall be useful for my plans." Finitevus entered the room.

"The curse is almost finished." The Puppet Master nodded.

"And Knuckles?"

"Still giving smart remarks," said Finitevus, scowling.

"Why haven't you sedated him yet then?"

"It might interfere with the process."

"I see. Well keep working. Let me know as soon as our tool is completely forged." Finitevus hated it when the Puppet Master referred to the being they were going to turn Knuckles into as their tool. By now he'd figured out that he was no longer in charge of this operation, and it irritated him. Especially seeing as Knuckles knew it too and was constantly teasing him about it.

**N**

Vector was snoring when a figure came through the door, it was hooded, so it's identity was hidden. The soft click of heels was all that could be heard other than the crocodile's snores and the static from the television. The figure passed Charmy, passed out beside a bag of cookies, and went up the stairs. It swept down the hallway to Espio's room. The ninja was sleeping peacefully, but the creak of the door opening woke him up. He carefully opened his eye a tiny bit. He saw a figure advancing towards him, some sort of thread in one hand.

Espio got up. "Who are you?" There was no verbal reply. The figure lunged at him, trying to touch him with the thread. Espio pulled a shuriken out of one of his cuffs. "Who are you?"

"Enter the service of the Puppet Master," the figure hissed in a voice distorted by some sort of mask. Espio mentally cursed. If he beat the person and they fled, he wouldn't be able to identify them later.

"Who are you?" It only repeated it's message, lunging once more with the thread outstretched. A silent battle commenced, then a second figure entered through the window. Espio turned to face this new threat, and the first figure swiftly touched the thread to the back of the chameleon's neck. Espio's eyes widened, then he went limp and fell to the floor.

The second figure put away his thread and picked Espio up. "Mission accomplished," hissed the first, sounding pleased. They left through the window, leaving only a tiny scrap of thread to show they'd been there.

**N**

Iltinis was still sleeping when Dark Gaia's presence entered his head. "Wakey wakey sleepy head! Important news from the Chaotix." Imagine his shock when Iris's voice spoke to him.

"Leave Daddy alone, he's tired."

"Have I entered the wrong head?" Asked Dark Gaia.

"No, you're in Daddy's head, but I told you he's tired!"

"Well then, maybe this will get him up. Shadow and Espio have gone missing." Iris ran out of her bedroom into her parent's and shook Itlinis roughly.

"Daddy! Daddy! Uncle Dark Gaia says Espio and Shadow are missing!" Iltinis sat up, blinking.

"What? Who...?" Amy sat up as well.

"What is it Iris?" Dark Gaia spoke through the young girl.

"Shadow and Espio are missing for the third time! And something is preventing me from locating Shadow's mind. It's even more frustrating than when Vector hid all the chocolate on me and wouldn't allow me to make hamburgers for lunch." Iltinis ignored Dark Gaia's grievances.

"Do Vector and Charmy know?"

"Of course! There's only this weird silvery thread on the floor of Espio's room. And his window was open this morning."

Aaron had his ear pressed against the wall that connected to his parent's bedroom. He couldn't help but feel worried. He liked Espio, the ninja had been nice to him before, and had taught him some fighting techniques, even when Amy protested that he was just a child. But the negative part told him not to care, and it seemed to know he would see Espio soon, so he relaxed and waited.

Noah, Senzace, and Sentimento were downstairs, enjoying breakfast when the rest of the family clattered down the stairs. "What's wrong?" Asked Sentimento. The situation was quickly explained as Iltinis bolted down a couple of pieces of toast then rushed out the door, transforming into a werehog as he did so, seemingly not noticing the shocked cries as he rushed past the people on the sidewalk.

Amy quickly got the children ready. "You're going to stay with Uncle Knuckles and Auntie Rouge for awhile okay?" They nodded. Amy locked the front door and they all climbed into the car.

**N**

Sentimento and Senzace were quietly trying to figure out why they were sometimes feeling things with each other's powers. There seemed to be no real explanation. Iris quietly helped them by switching back and forth between their minds, searching for such instances. When they reached Tails' workshop, they knew that only when they were too far apart from each other, their powers would start "leaking" in a way, so that they could share them with each other.

Iris also had another idea about this. If their powers leaked, what was to say that they hadn't activated hidden powers in people they were near whenever they were away from each other? It did seem like a rather interesting coincidence that the first time they'd been apart, the children developed their powers. Or did their being apart give people powers? If that was the case, how many other people had been affected? How many other people would start displaying strange talents? Tails was perfectly happy to agree to fly them to the island and back, getting the plane ready and rushing around, grabbing snacks for the children to enjoy on the way.

**N**

Knuckles was worried. The baby had been born last night. Luckily, Shade had been able to help Rouge, while Knuckles helplessly paced in the living room, unable to do anything. The same night, Rouge had left to go get something and hadn't come back. He was left with the unnamed child, an echidna like himself, who had stopped crying about an hour ago.

Knuckles now held the tiny albino in his arms. Shade had gone to look for Rouge for him, leaving him with baby bottles and lots of instructions that made no sense to him. The birth had been a premature one, and Shade had told Knuckles that she was afraid that the baby might not survive. Knuckles looked at the sleeping child in his arms and his expression became grim. He may not know where Rouge was, but he knew where the kid was, and he certainly wasn't going to let his son die.

He heard voices, he recognized them as Iltinis's family. The baby opened it's eyes, then smiled at him and wrapped it's tiny hands in his chest fur. His expression softened. The child might not have been born like a normal echidna, in an egg, but it was still an echidna. Still his son. He could see tiny little bumps on it's knuckles that would grow to be spikes like his own. Amy walked into view. "Knuckles, would you mind looking after the kids for me for a bit? I promise they'll behave and leave the Master Em... what's that?"

"My son," said Knuckles.

"Aww... he's so cute!" Said Amy, momentarily forgetting her troubles. "What's his name?"

"Rouge and I haven't decided yet."

"Where is she?"

"I don't know. She went to get something last night and I haven't seen her since." Amy paled.

"Shadow and Espio are missing too." Shade came back then, saying she couldn't find Rouge anywhere on the island. She left with Amy and the vampires to join Iltinis, while the guardian was left with four kids. Awkward.

"Uncle Knuckles, what do you want to name him?" Asked Iris, wide-eyed.

"I don't know..."

"Oh don't lie, you know you want to name him Alfred." Knuckles's jaw dropped, Aaron smirked, and Noah burst out laughing.

"She's got telepathy, Uncle Knuckles."

"I told you before, just call me Knuckles."

"Well Knuckles, we'll call him Alfred for now. Can I hold him?"

"I suppose..." said Knuckles reluctantly. Iris carefully took hold of Alfred and smiled at him.

"You're a cutie, you know that?" The baby smiled at her, his sky blue eyes full of life. "Yes you are, yes you are!" Aaron rolled his eyes as Alfred laughed his little baby laugh.

"Iris!"

"What?"

"That sounds weird!"

"It's girl stuff, guys like us don't understand that sort of thing. Rouge did it too," said Knuckles. Noah laughed.

"Uncle Sonic would say that you wouldn't get stuff like that even if guys were doing it." Knuckles frowned.

"Well, 'Uncle Sonic' is going to be having a bit of a conversation with my fists when I see him next..."

**N**

The Puppet Master frowned. "Where is Rouge?"

"We could not find her Master," said the first figure. Shadow and Espio's eyes were blank, tiny bits of silver thread were against the backs of their necks. Somehow, the ends of them were attached to the Puppet Master's gloves. He sighed.

"Well try to find her, she will be useful. We need to get that child of hers, you wouldn't believe the things that people would do when children are at stake..."

**It's official, that Puppet Master guy is CREEPY! O_O I found a document that I'd made ages ago with some powers I wanted the kids to have, so I used those (plus some ideas from reviewers). ^_^ What do you think of the name for Knuckles' son? What name do you think Rouge would want him to have? And I'm still trying to figure out why the Puppet Master would want Shadow and Espio and Rouge. I know why he wants Mobius Prime's Knuckles though. It's quite annoying when the characters you're writing seem to have control of the story instead of you isn't it?**

**Disclaimer: -.-**

**What?**

**Disclaimer: -.-**

**Fine, be that way.**

**Finitevus: While they act immature... CrazyNutSquirrel doesn't own Sonic and Co. She owns Iltinis, the children, the Puppet Master, the vampires, and... anything else that obviously doesn't belong to SEGA.**


	5. Pony pajamas?

Amy, Senzace, Sentimento, and Shade found Iltinis panting and listening to Tails, who was pacing back and forth in his living room. Iltinis had flopped onto the floor, still in hedgewolf form. "Any sign?" Asked Amy anxiously. Tails shook his head.

"No sign at all, the only clues we've found are bits of this weird thready stuff. I've been examining the bits but they aren't any material I recognize. It's either something entirely new, or it's from an alternate universe." Iltinis groaned.

"Perfect, just what we need."

"Those zone cop people might be able to help us," said Shade. "From what you said, they can travel between all of the different alternate universes easily."

"Yes, but we have no idea how to contact them, and they probably won't appear until we've almost finished fixing the problem." They stood there for a bit, looking thoughtful. Then Blaze and Silver burst in.

"We came as fast as we could," said Blaze. "We kept an eye out but we didn't see them either." Tails frowned.

"If only Shadow hadn't discovered the tracking device I put on him after we defeated Metal Overlord."

"Maybe Eggman knows where he is!" Said Iltinis, sitting up and smiling hopefully.

"Let's find out."

**N**

When you're an insane dictator, and you want to be feared and respected, being found sucking on your thumb, hugging a teddy bear, and wearing fuzzy pink slippers isn't really going to help you much. Especially if your enemies get a picture of you while you're still asleep. It is the ultimate form of blackmail. Iltinis tickled Eggman's nose with a feather he'd plucked from Jet (it had taken about twenty minutes to calm him down). The doctor swiped at it, dropping the teddy bear. An upset expression came onto his face. "Mr. Teddums, where are you?" Iltinis covered his mouth with his hand to stop himself from laughing, and Amy started giggling as quietly as she could.

Eggman's hand searched around for the teddy bear, and in the process, he rolled over and fell off the bed. He sat up, rubbing his head, and found himself staring at a stomach. A blue, fuzzy stomach. He looked up, and was met with Iltinis's amused green eyes. Eggman's eye twitched as he stood and smoothed his beard, trying to look in control of the situation. "Er... to what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" Before Iltinis could say anything, Jet came in.

"Hey, why is Eggman wearing pink pajamas with ponies on them?" That was too much for them, they all started laughing and the doctor went red in the face.

"I'm sure that isn't why you came here," he said with clenched teeth, noticing the camera in Amy's hands.

"No it isn't. We want to know if you can locate Shadow, Espio, and Rouge for us."

"Why do you think I can?" He huffed, still looking offended.

"Because you usually know where Shadow and Rouge are. It's almost as if you're stalking them via robot. But that's not the point. They've been kidnapped, and we're starting to worry."

"Ah. And why should I help you?"

"We got a picture of you, looking all cute and sucking your thumb," said Amy, holding up the camera.

"And you were hugging Mr. Teddums," added Sentimento. "It was really quite cute!"

"We love your slippers by the way," said Shade, grinning. Eggman sighed.

"Fine, but if I can't locate them, don't you _dare_ give that picture to the media."

"No guarantees." A couple of minutes later, while they all sipped surprisingly good hot chocolate, Eggman shook his head.

"No signal from any of the spy bots. It looks as if they've been shorted out. However, If they're still even partly assembled, I can get any remaining video feed from them. That might give us a clue." He drew up a map and showed two red dots, one near where Angel Island currently was, the other a little over halfway between the Mystic Ruins and Shadow's house. Iltinis examined it, eyes narrowed. "I'll swing around Angel Island, I've got a feeling something's going to happen there."

"We'll go with you bro." Iltinis looked at his siblings, then smiled slightly.

"Alright then." Blaze and Silver volunteered to go with them as well.

"I'll go look for the spy bot that was following Shadow," said Shade. Amy volunteered to go with her.

"We'll stay here and keep an eye on Egghead," said Jet. Wave and Storm nodded their agreement.

"He does one thing he isn't supposed to, I click send for this e-mail to the local newspapers."

"What e-mail?" Asked Eggman, actually looking nervous.

"The one with the picture of you." Eggman gulped.

"I'll behave until you're all out of my base, I promise."

"Cross your heart and hope to die?"

"Cross my heart and hope to lose." Tails rolled his eyes.

"Good enough I suppose..."

**N**

The Puppet Master was thrilled by the recent developments. His puppet was close to finding out what had happened to Rouge, and the child was on Angel Island. He'd be able to easily get the plant boy in his grip, and the baby would be easy to get. Iris wasn't strong enough yet to oppose him. He smiled thinly. "Finitevus!" The echidna scientist appeared.

"What?"

"Is the process complete?"

"Almost, a few more minutes is all I need." The Puppet Master nodded.

"Very well. Inform me as soon as he is ready, I will need him to come with me for something." Finitevus nodded, then disappeared. "Soon, soon I shall have you." The Puppet Master allowed himself to chuckle briefly. "Oh how sweet revenge shall be."

**N**

It hurt. He could tell that all the negative thoughts in his head were wrong. But he wasn't in control, something else was, something familiar had become corrupted. When he tried to figure out what it was, his head would start hurting. He couldn't see anything, but he could hear. He could hear Finitevus gloating quietly before going to get the Puppet Master. If he could only get his hands on that murderer...

Finitevus hadn't killed his father directly, but indirectly or not, he'd still done it. And now it looked as if his father's sacrifice had been for nothing. Locke had died to free him from this state and now he was trapped in it once again. Why had he been stupid enough to run straight into the tunnels after Finitevus instead of going and getting the Chaotix? They'd have found the scientist sooner or later.

He spasmed, the corrupt something would soon take over all of his mind, he wouldn't even be able to think like himself. It was horrible, knowing your mind was slowly disappearing. It wasn't quite like going berserk or insane, berserk was fueled by anger or grief. Insane was loneliness. Pain and fear was what he felt as the corrupt thing took more of his mind and absorbed it. He would have fought, but he couldn't do anything to it without speeding up the process of destruction. So all he could do was wait, and hope someone would manage to save him.

**N**

Aaron, after laughing with his siblings and joking around with everyone, suddenly found himself hit by the negative feelings. The force of them almost knocked him over, if you know what I mean. He quietened and went off by himself, and everyone assumed that as long as he stayed near the house Rouge had insisted on Knuckles making, he'd be safe. That wasn't the case.

Around the other side of the building, he saw a man sitting on a tree stump and swinging his legs. At least, he thought it was a man. The cloak he wore made it hard to tell, especially because he was bent over. The person looked up. "Ah, Aaron." The voice was male. He stood and held out his hand. "I am the Puppet Master."

"I don't like puppets," said Aaron, frowning.

"Really? We must not be thinking of the same sorts of puppets. Are you thinking paper bag ones, or ones of cloth perhaps?" Aaron nodded. "I am thinking of living creatures." Aaron's eyes widened with shock, he moved to run back around the house or at least yell for help, but the Puppet Master clamped a hand over his mouth. "Shout and I send a dozen of my newly made puppets, including an... ally of mine, to take care of your friends." Aaron closed his mouth. "Good. I have a proposition for you."

"Become one of your puppets?" Spat Aaron, a small growl rising from his chest. The Puppet Master laughed and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Of course not dear boy. If I wanted to, I could have made you become one when I put my hand over your mouth, or now, as my hand rests on your shoulder. Do you feel any sudden urge to obey me?" Aaron shook his head, puzzled. "My proposition is to join me. This world will be mine soon enough, I'm only waiting for all the pieces to fall into place. You are a major one, will you help your friends and inevitably lose, or will you join my side and make us win that much sooner?" Aaron hesitated, and the negative feelings forced their way to the surface. Aaron scowled.

"It's not like they'd miss me at all," he said. "I accept your offer." The Puppet Master smiled, knowing that his talking, and the one other thing he'd done that Aaron wasn't aware of, would get the boy on his side in the end.

**N**

Iris, having been busy talking to Alfred, Knuckles, and Noah, only noticed what was going on with Aaron when the negative feelings spiked. "Aaron's in trouble," she said, turning and going towards the back of the house. Something landed in front of her and she fell back.

"Give me the child," it hissed. It was a spider in a ninja outfit, it's eyes glaring venomously at her, while at the same time staying creepily blank. Iris hugged Alfred to herself. The baby smiled up at her, but she was too focused on the enemy as she backed towards Knuckles and Noah. More spiders appeared.

"Give us the child!" Knuckles growled.

"Over my dead body," he said fiercely. They heard a laugh that sounded eerily familiar.

"Over your dead body? How unfortunate. It seems I shall have to kill my counterpart before I even get to know him," a figure with red dreadlocks and a strange outfit landed. It was blue and gold robes and boots. In his spiked glove he held a staff with what looked like an eagle head carved onto the top.

"Who are you?" Asked Knuckles, almost afraid of the answer, yet not knowing why.

"I am Enerjak. Before reaching this state I was known as 'Knuckles'." Iris reached out to his mind, the instant their minds made contact, they both started screaming.

**N**

Itlinis, with his finely tuned hearing, heard the scream. "Iris!" He yelled, pupils dilating. Senzace and Sentimento looked up from the robot they were picking up.

"What's happening Iltinis?" He didn't reply, just shot off towards the island, already stretching his arms to impossible lengths so he could reach the edge of the island and pull himself up. Senzace and Sentimento sighed. "Come on, let's follow him then." They heard Blaze and Silver gasp, and turned just a moment too late. The cloths were over their noses and mouths before they could react. And to them, the world went black.

Iltinis meanwhile, had reached Knuckles' house and was furiously plowing through the spiders, ignoring the thread that stuck to his fur. It seemed like an odd weapon to him. However, seeing as it hadn't done anything, he decided it was useless and furiously threw them through the air, disregarding the cracks he heard. Enerjak was too busy furiously chasing Iris, who was running around and keeping a tight hold on Alfred, who was crying, to notice that Iltinis was making a beeline for him. "Stay away from my daughter!" He roared.

Enerjak turned his face just in time for Iltinis's fist to come into contact with it. Iris was sweating, having stopped herself from screaming once she realized that it started Alfred wailing, and his wailing really hurt everyone's ears. Enerjak was also keeping in his screams. Now he grunted as he was flung through the air. He crashed into a tree. "This isn't over," he spat. "I'll be back for the baby soon, the Puppet Master orders that it must be so!" Enerjak turned and fled, a wave of his hand lifted the spiders into the air and drew them after him.

"Are you okay Iris?" Iris nodded.

"He's got a curse of some sort on him," she said, looking after Enerjak and letting Knuckles take Alfred. "That's not really him."

"It sure looked like he was real," said Noah.

"No, I meant that that's not who he really is. That's a personality that the curse brought on. It's connected to some white echidna and this person called the Puppet Mast-" She broke off. "Aaron was in trouble earlier!" She darted around the back of the house, followed by Iltinis, Noah, and Knuckles. Iris closed her eyes and started casting around with her mind. "Aaron is no longer on the island."

**N**

Rouge glared at the cuff on her wrist. It was too tight, and it was a horrible shade of green. Her supposed benefactor, an old echidna, chuckled. "You'll appreciate this cuff soon enough Rouge. As soon as threads start descending on you."

"What the hell does that even mean Athair?"

"Now now, I might have come from another universe with the intention of giving you some small aid, but that doesn't mean that I can tell you everything. I must get back to my own world before it becomes too unbalanced. Three echidnas connected to chaos out of it at once is not a good thing." Athair turned, but paused before walking towards the portal that had just appeared for him. "I will tell you one other thing, fire can be deceiving." With a mischievous grin that made him seem much younger, he stepped into the portal and vanished.

Rouge growled something under her breath. "Attacked by spiders last night, waking up with a horrid looking cuff on my arm, and given no straight answers by this lunatic echidna who believes he's related to Knuckles." She punched a tree. "Can my day get any worse?" Apparently it could, for it started to rain.

**Well **_**that**_** was certainly interesting. Writing about Knuckles' experience of turning into Enerjak was weird and put there on a whim, hope it isn't too bad. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a bit of a craving to satisfy...**

**Disclaimer: A craving that involves fanfictions about a tall demon lord digimon who has guns, a metallic tail, and a motorcycle. Hmm, who could it **_**be**_**?**

**Oh shut up, Beelzemon is cool!**

**Disclaimer: You say the same about Black WarGreymon.**

**Hey, I can't help it if they are just so fantastic that they became some of my top favorite digimon.**

**Finitevus: Don't ask why she checked out Digimon again, seriously don't. She doesn't own anything in this story except the vampire twins, the children, and possibly the Puppet Master. We won't know until his identity is revealed who he is.**

**Hey Puppet Master, would you tell me who you are?**

**Puppet Master: Now that would spoil the surprise.**

***pouts***

**Disclaimer: R&R**


End file.
